Favorable

FERC on Friday issued a favorable environmental assessment (EA) of Tallgrass Interstate Gas Transmission’s proposal to convert the Pony Express Pipeline to meet the increasing demand for crude oil transportation service out of the Bakken formation.

Onshore drilling efficiencies in domestic shale gas plays continue to increase, per-unit costs continue to fall, and together, they given a big boost to operators’ proven reserves, by one calculation.

Favorable price spreads for U.S. produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) will continue for some time creating an opportunity for LNG to grow in importance in the long-haul trucking sector and other stationary operations, such as oil/gas drilling operations, according to Pace Global, a Fairfax, VA-based energy management consulting business that is part of Siemens.

With an average production rate of almost 10 MMcf/d in the first quarter, a discovery well in the Piceance Basin may produce in the first few months what a typical well in the Niobrara formation has done over 25 to 30 years, WPX energy CEO Ralph Hill said Thursday.

FERC Monday issued a favorable environmental assessment (EA) of Trunkline Gas Co.’s proposal to convert a multi-state natural gas pipeline to crude oil service for the Gulf Coast market.

The Senate approved President Obama’s nomination of Sally Jewell as Interior secretary Wednesday by an 87-11 vote.

Portions of the Susquehanna River Valley aquifer in an area of New York that overlies the Marcellus and Utica shales are among the most favorable for potential large-scale groundwater supply, according to a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study.

Apache Corp. is taking no prisoners in the Permian Basin nor in the Midcontinent after building output from the combined regions by almost 24% in 2012 from 2011. The Permian and Central operations in 4Q2012 by themselves represented 25% of Apache’s total global production at 197,000 boe/d.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued favorable environmental assessments (EA) for two Dominion Marcellus Shale-related projects in Pennsylvania and New York: the Tioga Area Expansion Project and the Sabinsville-to-Morrisville Project. Because they are in the same geographic region, FERC reviewed the projects in a single EA [CP12-19, CP12-20]. The Tioga Area Expansion, estimated to cost $67 million, calls for the construction of 15 miles of 24-inch diameter pipeline in Tioga County, PA, and minor modifications to several existing Dominion facilities to provide a total of up to 270,000 Dth/d of firm transportation. About 150,000 Dth/d of the capacity would be delivered to Leidy in north-central Pennsylvania at an existing interconnect with Transcontinental Pipe Line, while the remaining capacity would be delivered to a new interconnect with Texas Eastern Transmission at Dominion’s Crayne Compressor Station in Greene County, PA. The Sabinsville-to-Morrisville Project would allow Tennessee Gas Pipeline to move its receipt point from Dominion south from North Sheldon, NY, to Sabinsville, PA, in Tioga County. The project, which would cost an estimated $17 million, would provide up to 92,000 Dth/d to Tennessee.